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Cannabis oil will be available on prescription in weeks

Medical cannabis is to be made available on prescription in the UK, with ministers expected to announce the move in parliament within a month.

Doctors will be allowed to use cannabis oil that contains the psychoactive chemical THC to treat conditions including chronic pain, nausea caused by chemotherapy, and severe epilepsy.

Once approved by MPs, the move will place Britain among the most liberal countries in Europe on medical cannabis. The Home Office decision follows a high-profile campaign by the mother of a 13-year-old boy with epilepsy. Charlotte Caldwell prompted a review of the rules on medical cannabis this year, when drugs prescribed for her son Billy in the United States were seized at Heathrow airport.